It is known to display products for sale such as blister packs, video cassettes and the like by attaching them to flat plastic hangers which have an adhesive portion that bonds to the product and a hanging means, such as an aperture, by which the hanger and the product are supported by a support structure, such as a peg or a hook.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,627, discloses a strip of plastic having an elongate body portion provided with a series of superimposed slits, each in the form of an elongated W and each defining a central upwardly extending product suspension hook or finger and outer stabilizing fingers. The suspension hook or finger is available for mounting display items for sale such as a blister pack-having a mounting aperture in the wrapping or an adhesively bound mounting strip having an aperture therein. The body portion of the strip is mounted on the forward edge of a merchandise display shelf to display items for sale in a manner which is more visible and more easily accessible to the shopper.
The display strip of U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,627 and similar display strips have the advantage that they can be easily mounted on the forward portion of the merchandise display shelf and products can be quickly and easily mounted thereon. However, these type of hangers with non-locking fingers or hooks have the disadvantage that products mounted thereon are easily dislodged. Another disadvantage of these types of hangers is that products must be loaded manually. It is very difficult to load products on these display strips automatically because three fingers must be moved to mount a single product.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a display strip and hang tab combination that can be mounted so as to extend perpendicular to a horizontal merchandise support surface or can be mounted parallel to a vertical surface such as a wall or panel wherein products can be securely mounted and still be easily accessible and detachable by a purchaser or user. There is also a need to provide a display strip and hang tab combination that can be automatically loaded with products.
Additionally, there is a need to also provide a die cut chipboard or cardboard backer for a blister pack package or a boxed package shrink wrapped onto the backer, or even the box itself, with the same type of support configuration provided on a hang tab so that the display strip can be used in conjunction therewith independent of a hang tab.